Preservation series aims to raise awareness of historic restoration process

Downtown’s Court Square Center project included restoration of the Lowenstein Building, a late 19th-century department store.

Whether the project is a 2,000-square-foot Midtown foursquare or a 200,000-square-foot Downtown high-rise, restoring a century-old building to its original splendor is a daunting proposition. In fact, a lot of people don't realize just how daunting it is.

That's the thinking behind this year's Memphis Heritage Preservation Series, which explores the "back story" of historical preservation. The series takes place Monday nights in March at Memphis Heritage's Howard Hall.

"People think, ‘Well, just go save it,' and it's not that easy," said June West, Memphis Heritage executive director. "I wish it were."

In the case of a historic house, as long as the structure is viable — and sometimes even if it isn't — restoration is generally possible. But even a small-scale project takes a big commitment on the part of the owner.

In short, the homeowner has to have the resources to pay for it.

"If you're doing your house, you can solve the problem with your wallet," said William Chandler, owner of Chandler & Chandler and one of the speakers in this year's series. "In houses for the most part, the technology that put a house together in 1900 is still there. They can still make all the stuff they built houses out of back then. You can say, ‘Well, I really want that trim, so I'm going to spend the extra $400.'"

The main difference between a residential and commercial project is scale, Chandler added, which complicates the choices when it comes to financing the work. "There are no $10 decisions," he said.

Chandler's company worked with Montgomery Martin Contractors on Downtown's Court Square Center project, a three-building restoration that included the Lowenstein Building, a late 19th century department store. During his Preservation Series presentation, Chandler will discuss the years of planning and wrangling that went into saving the historic structure.

"We put together financing that at the time, 2006, was probably the most complex that had been put together in North America," Chandler said. "In addition to the financing, we had to unwind an extremely tangled mess of legal problems, including mechanics' liens and city taxes and fire department fines. That took five years on its own. Then the construction process was also very complex and difficult."

Even West didn't see how the Lowenstein Building could be saved.

"Everybody had wanted it torn down for years," she said.

Along with the successful completion of Court Square Center, the Preservation Series will discuss the restoration of the Francis Gassner-designed building at 200 Madison that is now home to the Visible Music College. Other sessions include a talk on green space preservation and a roundtable discussion about endangered properties in Memphis and what can be done to save them.

John Griffin, Memphis Heritage board president and an interior designer, said the series is designed to raise awareness of the difficulty of putting together a successful historical restoration project in hopes of gaining more community support.

"It takes a concerted effort," he said. "We would like to have a more vocal, educated, aware and knowledgeable preservation public."

With projects like Overton Square and Sears Crosstown in the limelight, public support is a crucial element in making successful restorations happen.

"It relates to the whole fabric of the city," Griffin said. "You're a part in saying, ‘Let's try to re-use these things because they have value, they have history."

As Chandler pointed out, the "re-use" element of a preservation project has its own benefits.

"One of the things said in the historic preservation community is the ultimate green building is the one that already exists," he said. "That's one thing. The second thing that's important to me is that a building that's 100 years old has already proven its timelessness. It's beyond fad and fashion. And so if you preserve it and bring it back to new, it is guaranteed not to fail."

Griffin has incorporated historic restoration for years into his own projects and his clients' projects.

"I've bought and renovated several houses that have all been on the National Register (of Historic Places)," he said. "I've done the best I could to bring back some of the historical features that were lost — to remind the neighborhood of its character and its past and its history."

March 25: Roundtable discussion on Memphis' endangered properties and what can be done to save them.

Cost for the series is $50 for Memphis Heritage members and $65 for nonmembers. Individual lecture tickets are not available. For tickets, call 901-272-2727 or e-mail Carrie Stetler at cstetler@memphisheritage.org. For more information, visitmemphisheritage.org.